Proximate and Ultimate Causes

The sermon explores the distinction between proximate and ultimate causes regarding God's blessing of the godly, using Psalm 18 as the primary text. It establishes that while God generally rewards righteous behavior, this is a secondary principle rather than the foundational reason for His grace. The preacher clarifies that human obedience is never perfectly blameless and cannot earn salvation or blessing on its own merit. Instead, the ultimate cause of all divine favor is the perfect obedience and substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ, who serves as the covenant head for believers. Consequently, believers are motivated to live righteously not by earning God's love, but by responding to the immense grace already provided through Christ.